When Colorado Rapids forward Edson Buddle felt some pain in his right kneecap during last Friday's training session, he did not expect it would cause him to miss the next day's home match against the Seattle Sounders. But that's exactly what happened, just minutes before kickoff.

"On Friday my knee was bothering me," Buddle explained to ColoradoRapids.com on Tuesday. "I felt a little clicking in my right knee and then my patella became inflamed. I wanted to go out there on Saturday to see how it felt, and it didn't get any better during warmups. It got a little worse."

Buddle was listed as a starter when lineups were submitted to the officials one hour before kickoff. As usual the starters took the field for warm ups 45 minutes before the opening whistle, however the pain in Buddle's knee increased during the exercises, so he informed the coaching staff that he was not 100 percent.

"I thought warming up would make it better, more lose," Buddle said. "But I guess when the patella is inflamed it stays that way. It was a discomfort and I wasn't able to extend my knee, because it causes lots of pain. So I decided to pull myself out."

Buddle said the discomfort is not a recurrence of the knee issue that caused him to miss the first four matches, but rather a potential side affect from the work he's put in to get back on the field. He's hopeful he'll be able to practice later this week.

"Once we get the inflamation down, the discomfort goes away," he said. "That's what we're trying to do, applying ice and keeping it elevated."

The Rapids face the Houston Dynamo on Sunday, April 28 at BBVA Compass Stadium. Buddle scored three goals in his last two regular season matches against Houston while with the LA Galaxy. He also played the final 16 minutes of LA's 3-1 MLS Cup victory over Houston last December.